Since the beginning of time there have been disasters and people have seen where emergency actions need to be taken. Many lives have been lost due to lack of proper communications. Property has been destroyed before people realized the extent of the disaster, especially if the disaster was a spreading fire and the like. In other cases, people in remote locations have needed medical attention along with temporary housing. In a disaster area, there are always relatives, friends, and loved ones involved. Even people inside the area have loved ones outside the affected area.
In responding to a disaster need, timeliness may be extremely important. Supplies may be needed and, with the advent of the helicopter transports, can be taken to remote locations quickly. However, communications must be effective to direct such efforts.
Historically, beginning over a century ago, telegraphs were used for communication of disasters which later were largely replaced with telephones. However, many times in a disaster area, the telegraph, telephone lines, or other communications lines were destroyed. Early in the 20.sup.th century, the ham shortwave radio operators became able to transmit and receive distress signals using Morse Code. Initially, the range of communication was impaired and it required a chain of ham operators to relay the information. Today, with current technology, ham operators are able to communicate around the world and are generally the first to communicate with the outside world in cases of disaster. In recent times, the mobile telephone has gained acceptance. However, it as well as the other equipment, requires local portable power that may operate independent of other power sources to be a more effective emergency aid.
For instance, the Red Cross, known worldwide for its disaster relief depends many times upon power lines carrying AC voltage, such as a 110 volt AC system in the U.S., to power the needed radio equipment, to operate computers, and lighting. If the 110 volt AC system fails, some radio equipment may be operated from a car battery, but then the car may need to run to ensure that the charge on the battery is maintained. In other cases, a standby generator may be operational to assist in the 110 volt needs, but at times even the standby generator may not operate.
The inventor's personal experience in May, 1996 was at a disastrous fire at Big Lake, Ak. The fire had a radius of 32 miles involving a residential and commercial area. This fire was one of the worst disasters in Alaska's history. The Red Cross established an evacuation center at a local high school with computers and ham radios that were placed in operation. Everything operated well for several hours. However, with the widespread area of the fire, power outages occurred and the computers and radios along with the lighting were in a state of failure. The school had a standby generator, but it failed to start, because the fuel tank had been drained to ensure fresh fuel would be placed in it for the school season in 1996 and 1997. Without the 110 volt AC power available in the area, the service stations and fuel supply companies could not pump the needed fuel. Shortly after the fire started, another problem occurred when all the cell phones were rendered useless. With downed telephone lines and no readily available power for recharging, the cell phones were inoperable. The power outage lasted for nearly three hours, resulting in placing all those involved under undue hazardous conditions. In several instances, the fire was unable to be controlled and went beyond the hopeful fire breaks, perhaps partially at least because of the lack of communication.
It is interesting that in over 100 years of organized disaster relief that a satisfactory portable emergency power system has not emerged. Obviously, the need is great. Yet, it appears that no invention has harnessed the various needs into a small, compact, and readily accessible system. Frankly, this is somewhat surprising given the state of the need and the readily available various components to assemble such a system. What is needed is the system and method such as described and claimed in the present patent. What is needed is an emergency response communications system capable of operating for an extended time period the multiple units typically involved in emergency response and disaster related systems that can be set up within a few minutes, if not a few seconds, and may be portable to remote areas. Such a system could be used in evacuation centers, control centers for disaster preparedness, search and rescue teams, base camps, forest fire control, ski patrols, and even mountain climbers and hunting and fishing camps.
Yet, oddly, the arrangement of various elements for a total system simply appears to have escaped the auspices of the various people who would have the greatest need. While in some cases, it may be recognized that the portable power unit would be advantageous, no one has solved the various needs to the extent that the present invention solves. For instance, there are some commercial units of small batteries with limited power capacity to run small short range ham radio units. These units seem to be small almost "Toy-like" in that they can be dropped, broken and otherwise damaged from the construction and plastic case. In some instances, this type of portable power source would not have enough power to operate a 2 meter mobile radio for the needed time. Thus, a "runner" is often necessary. This step normally slows the communications down in an emergency situation and places additional safety risk to the runner. In many systems, even the smaller hand held HT radios might last for just a few hours. For instance, in a power system with a 7 amp hour battery, the HT radio under emergency conditions lasted only two to four hours in the inventor's experience. In some cases, even a larger unit using a small car battery is available. However, even it appears very restricted in its capabilities. For instance, even it misses the point of multiple outlets and only supplies one car cigarette lighter type connection for limited use of the needed equipment. Thus, while it may be apparent that portable power is desired, those in this field, other than this invention, stopped with the concept of simply providing a battery in a nondurable, nonemergency equipped unit which apparently did not operate sufficiently multiple equipment needs and heavy duty radio needs.
Furthermore, the present invention allows the portable use of radios that were previously considered somewhat fixed to abase station because of the large power requirements. For instance, the HF radio is typically the most powerful radio used by ham operators and will require up to 1500 watts. Typically, its requirements were met by standby generators if the 110 volt AC source power lines went down. Normally the HF radio requires a base station and a special antenna at a fixed location. Thus, it may not have viably considered portable until the present invention.
Until the present invention, there remained a great need in the emergency communications field of a compact, portable, emergency response communications system specifically designed to provide the various aspects of heavy duty and perhaps multiple use of a variety of equipment from a single power system. The present invention satisfies those needs.
Thus, while there was a long felt but unsatisfied need for this invention, as will be shown in the detailed description, the needed implementing arts and elements have long been available with the elegant simplicity of the present invention. As stated above, those with the greatest need appreciated that a problem existed and simply had not realized how to solve the problem. In some limited cases, those with skill in the art attempted to solve the problem by supplying a limited use power unit, yet appear to have missed the over all picture in satisfying the real needs of those in disaster relief situations needing emergency communications. Interestingly, in the experimental field trials of this invention, the results have been outstanding. Testimonials of those who have tried the equipment have stated that they do not wish to return the unit and to "please don't expect to see it back any time soon," because of their enthusiasm of the unit. The systems, in their various embodiments, have an elegant simplicity that is readily repairable, can be operated with little to no training, and can operate large power requirement radios such as a two meter mobile radio requiring 50 watts for at least a week's time with normal use and no recharging. It can withstand a lot of abuse driving through fields and over country roads with its strong and durable metal case. Its connections are sturdy and can endure a substantial amount of wear and tear under emergency conditions. Additionally, it can power hand-held transceivers on scan for 24 hours a day for over a month and appears to not drop in voltage substantially.
Those who have an interest in these systems such as the Red Cross, National Guard, Forest Service, Coast Guard, have expressed strong interest in this invention. They have commented that they have never seen something like this before. Such interest is partially due to the disbelief and incredulity on the part of those skilled in the art that the invention could perform so well under such a variety of conditions and even operate multiple power supplies simultaneously with such success.